Two days ago the first collaborative effort between Christian M. Andersen's Creative Future and the iconic Parisian concept store colette was launched for pre-order. Compiled as a close collaboration between de two parties involved, the elegant book which was created examines not only colette’s affiliation with art and design, but also the artistic processes, approaches and ideas of the many artists that have worked and exhibited with colette since 1997. The project took more than one-and-a-half years to develop and features a long list of notable artists including KAWS, André Saraiva, José Parlá, Kevin Lyons, Erik Parker, Curtis Kulig, Michael Dupouy, Pedro Winter and Julia Chiang. In addition, the cover artwork of the book is created by the Brooklyn-based artists, KAWS. [ Continue reading ]
Some weeks ago, one of our favorite online retail specialists when it comes to the traditional crafts - OEN - shared this highly inspirational peek into the Hornevarefabrikken workshop in Bøvlingbjerg, Denmark. Founded in 1935, Hornvarefabrikken – which translates to The Hornware Factory – was set up by Peter Husted, a craftsman and visionary with great ambitions. He designed and made many of the spoons and tableware that are still sold by Hornvarefabrikken today. In 2007 designer Sara Brunn Buch acquired Hornvarefabrikken under the condition that she continued the tradition of first-rate craftsmanship. Still operating in the far West of Denmark, the company persists in creating immaculate hornware made by hand in a small set of workshops, valuing traditional craftsmanship in its core. Recently they even named their new collection - Tradition - after this exact philosophy consisting of tableware, accessories, interior and jewellery items, which are all produced in their incredible workshop, opened to us for a fascinating visit through OEN. [ Continue reading ]
After premiering the first half of Ashkan Honarvar's ‘King of Worms’ last week, we now present a selection of the second half of the biggest project till date created by the Norway-based visionary. Ashkan has been producing collages for almost a decade now, both under his own name as the pseudonym Who Killed Mickey, always finding inspiration in the dark side of humanity and from the questions that rise about it. The extraordinary new project is no different; consisting of 107 collages, divided in 10 chapters with a unique aesthetic, although undeniably marked with Honarvar’s signature style. Today we ask him about that particular style and his vision, inspirations from the dark side, Jane Arden’s film ‘The Other Side of the Underneath’ and how he translated this into a major work like 'King of Worms'. [ Continue reading ]
We have written about the brand by Of and With Studios named Ætt before, when they were responsible for a collection of beautiful leather bags crafted from the last batch of leathers ever tanned on the Norwegian Osterøy Island. Last month they launched another highly fascinating project - as always routinely looking at history for inspiration. And few historical stories are more heroic and impressive than that of a group of young Norwegian men during the critical stages of World War II. In February 1943 a small group of Norwegian commandos were responsible for halting production of Hitler's attempt to create an atomic bomb. Without any casualties, the team managed to destroy the entire inventory of heavy water produced during the German occupation. The operation, titled Operation Gunnerside was later evaluated by Special Operations Executive as the most successful act of sabotage in all of World War II. Inspired by this heroic operation and to honor the 70-year anniversary of the liberation of Norway, Ætt created the Operation Heim collection - a very limited series of the British WWII era windproof smocks, the jacket which was issued to the dedicated brave men of the resistance; commandos and SOE agents who fought alongside local resistance. [ Continue reading ]
During his travels as a young man, the Spanish master architect Ricardo Bofill first encountered the major cement factory outside of Barcelona. An industrial complex from the turn of the century consisting of over 30 silos, subterranean galleries and huge machine rooms. After it got disused, Bofill bought the whole premises in 1973 and decided to transform it into the head office of his firm Taller de Arquitectura. Remodelling work lasted two years. The factory, abandoned and partially in ruins, was a compendium of surrealist elements: stairs that climbed up to nowhere, mighty reinforced concrete structures that sustained nothing, pieces of iron hanging in the air, huge empty spaces filled nonetheless with magic. Last Summer the Spanish filmmaker Albert Moya caught the magical place for Nowness on film in a perfect manner, making us want to visit Bofill's visionary work of architecture and interior design over and over again. [ Continue reading ]
We are only in the second month of the new year and there is already an important new Tenue de Nîmes collaboration to be celebrated in 2015. It all started last October, when the legendary Tricker's shoe store in London at 67 Jeremy Street was visited for the very first time, to start the process of the creation of a series of Tricker's x Tenue de Nîmes shoes. Barely four months later, a first collection is ready, consisting of three genuine Tricker's classic pieces inspired by the rich history of the English shoe brand that was established in 1829. The classic models were given an elegant translation fitting in the Tenue universe, resulting in a collection to be proud of, created for everyone who's enjoying the good things in life. [ Continue reading ]
Last year we were very impressed by the beautiful debut publication of independent publishing house Zioxla named 'Strange Plants', which will have a just as impressive follow up at the beginning of next month. The new book features the work of 30 artists, 5 more then than the first edition, and explores what these artists think about plants and how they portray them in their work. The very talented editor of the book, Zio Baritaux, brought together a new selection of artists, including names like Allison Schulnik, Misha Hollenbach, Francesca DiMattio, Zin Taylor, Katarina Janeckova, Stills & Strokes and Ren Hang. Schulnik, for example, used her own garden as a character in one of her short films; Stills & Strokes projected colors and geometric shapes onto the leaves of plants in botanical gardens; and DiMattio filled the sculptures in her exhibition with dramatic and unruly flowers. Each artist’s work is accompanied by an insightful article or interview that delves deeper into the relationships between plants and people, resulting in another inspirational book. [ Continue reading ]
